AlarmArt’s second exhibition, “Different Thoughts, Common Frequencies”, has opened at Çankaya Municipality’s Doğan Taşdelen Contemporary Arts Centre. Featuring recent work by 12 artists across a range of disciplines and techniques, the exhibition runs until 4 October.
After debuting in Adana, AlarmArt opened its second exhibition in Ankara, bringing diverse artistic approaches together through a shared commitment to creativity and exchange. Organised by HepArt, “Different Thoughts, Common Frequencies” welcomed visitors at Çankaya Municipality’s Doğan Taşdelen Contemporary Arts Centre. The exhibition features works by Betül Demir, Ekrem Şerif Egeli, Hakan Esmer, Hande Ünver, Mehmet Yıldırım, Metin Kılıç, Özgür Eryılmaz, Pelin Özgöçen, Selçuk Yılmaz, Semih Kaplan, Serdar Leblebici and Cemalettin Yıldız.
12 artists
Curator Erkan Doğanay described AlarmArt as an artist-led initiative formed by 12 artists, noting the important roles that artists’ groups have played throughout art history.
“AlarmArt is an artist-led initiative formed by 12 artists coming together. Groups like this have emerged in different forms in almost every period of art history, from cave paintings to the Renaissance, from modern art to the contemporary art of today. There are many examples in Turkish art, too,” Doğanay said.
Doğanay noted that AlarmArt is one of the artist-led initiatives active in contemporary art, with members working across a range of disciplines and techniques. Their practices span sculpture, ceramics, works on paper, oil painting and photography. He explained that the artists have been working together for more than a decade, guided by the idea of building a shared culture, and that the exhibition reflects the diversity of their work.
“The aim is not simply to hold a joint exhibition”
Doğanay emphasised that a shared style is not what unites the group. Instead, he highlighted the importance of the artists drawing inspiration from one another’s work and discussing their creative processes together.
“Each artist’s way of perceiving and seeing the world, their methods and their techniques come together here in a group exhibition. The aim is not simply to hold a joint exhibition. Evaluating and helping to shape one another’s work, and guiding one another on their artistic journeys, are also an important part of what brings them together,” he said.
Collective creativity in an increasingly individualised world
Doğanay explained that one of the founding ideas behind AlarmArt was for artists to evaluate one another’s work and contribute to its future development. He said that such collaborations carry particular significance in an increasingly individualised art world.
“Today, in an increasingly individualised world where everyone is trying to define their art through their own Instagram account or other social media platforms, it takes considerable courage to keep a collective like this going,” Doğanay said.
“Different Thoughts, Common Frequencies” is on view at Çankaya Municipality’s Doğan Taşdelen Contemporary Arts Centre until 4 October.
